My immigration journey pt. 3
If you’re new here, welcome! This is part two of a series where I discuss my immigration journey from 2010 until now. If you want to read part one, click here. For part two, click here.
So, now we’re in February 2018 and we sent in our very long application for my permanent residency. I’m not gonna lie, I was very happy and couldn’t believe I finally did it. We were discussing possible international trips later in the year and seeing my family in Brazil was no longer a distant dream. Little did we know what waited ahead.
I promised I would provide some insight and helpful tips for anyone going through this process, so here’s my first one: USPS does not forward any immigration mail if you move.
This is very important! Shortly after we applied, we were getting ready to move and downsize so we could save some money. At the very last minute, everything fell through and we had to stay where were [loved our apartment, but it was a bit pricy]. Anyway, I changed our address with USPS because I wanted to avoid any interruptions with my application. Turns out, they don’t forward immigration mail and everything got sent back. I can’t even begin to tell you how upsetting this was. Like most people in this situation, we couldn’t afford a lawyer and this type of very important information isn’t readily accessible — although it very much should be!
The key takeaway here is: if you move, always update your address with USCIS first.
After a couple of months of not hearing back from them, I called quite a few times and finally got some understanding as to why I hadn’t received anything. It was so hard to get them on the phone and actually resolve the issue, but after speaking to a few people, I finally got my receipt notice in the mail. This is the first piece of mail you receive after applying for anything. Fast-forward to June 2018, and we received another package from them — a Request for Evidence [RFE]. When there’s something missing from your initial application packet, they send this request detailing what is needed and you get a chance to send it in. Again… just like everything else, it’s usually pretty unclear and confusing. One of the things they were missing was a tax form. Here’s a little background on applying for permanent residency through marriage — you have to prove that your spouse can financially support you and that you won’t be a burden on the American government. Yep, they use the word ‘burden’. My husband and I thought we were sending in the correct form, but apparently we did not.
Here’s another tip: if you cannot afford a lawyer, do research on paralegals — they are more affordable and can really help you with your application and process.
After sending everything requested in the RFE, we didn’t hear back from them until November 2018. At this point, I was growing impatient and just knew the next time I heard back would be to go in for my interview so we can get this over with. Man, was I wrong! I was 7 months pregnant at the time and had just gotten home from my in-laws; we spent the weekend with them and they threw us a baby shower. I was exhausted! I dropped my husband off at church because we didn’t have time for him to go home, change, and get his car. I got home and saw an envelope from USCIS and got so excited!! I opened it and couldn’t believe what I was reading… they denied my application and told me I had 30 days to leave the country.
I honestly couldn’t comprehend what was happening and I immediately started crying. I didn’t know what to do and being alone definitely didn’t help. I call my mom and she calmed me down as much as possible and begged me to call my husband. Of course, as soon as he heard me, he left church in the middle of praise service [he’s the drummer… not fun lol]. This was the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we had a maternity shoot that afternoon, and I was already exhausted from everything that comes with being 7 months pregnant. After talking to my mom, she recommended a paralegal that her friends used in the past and who was known for her awesome work with immigration cases. I prayed so much and asked God for the peace I needed to get through that day without falling apart. After a while of gathering ourselves, we realized we hadn’t eaten anything [I promise this is relevant lol] and decided to grab food before heading to the photoshoot.
When I tell y’all that was the beginning of the hardest week I’ve ever had? I’m not joking.
Here’s a quick runthrough:
Sunday: received the worst news from USCIS and didn’t know what to do
Monday: woke up SICK, ended up in the hospital with food poisoning
Tuesday: one of my fillings fell out and I ended up at the dentist
Wednesday: while heading home for thanksgiving, AC goes out
Thursday: every little thing was going wrong and I was pretty much done
Friday: couldn’t get my car fixed before heading back to Orlando… in the heat
Saturday: found out I also needed 4 new tires and my battery replaced 😵
I’m still not sure how I got through that emotionally catastrophic week, but GOD. That same week, while trying to figure out what to do because I was not about to leave the country, I reached out to the paralegal. Everything was done through text and she’s never met me before. Not only did she help me put together the most perfect appeal, she never charged me. Not one penny. I kept asking her how to submit payment and how much it would all cost, but she just kept talking around it and not giving me a straight answer. Guys… she literally wrote everything out for me and just told me to make sure it sounded like me. It really is in the darkest most helpless moments that God steps in and shows you who’s really in charge. Plus, the appeal alone cost $700 and on top of everything my car decided to go through, we were tapped out. But! We had it. We covered our bills and kept going. That’s a blessing in itself. As stressed as I got, my husband kept reminding me that we had it and we took care of it all because God has never not provided for us.
Within a couple of weeks, our appeal was approved and I finally exhaled lol…
These roadblocks definitely stalled our process, but even before anything went wrong, it would take months to just get a response. I’m hoping that this process gets refined and people’s lives are taken more seriously. At the end of March 2019, my employment authorization document expired [this is the document used to get and renew your driver’s license]. So, without this document I couldn’t work or drive. I submitted the renewal application, but of course, they took forever to get it back to me. It wasn’t until July 2019 that I received the new card in the mail and was able to renew my driver’s license, but I wasn’t able to return to my position at UCF. Since I hadn’t been working since March, we decided to move in with my in-laws in Sarasota, FL for a few months to save money. This was a blessing and truly humbling experience for the both of us.
